Summary

Alex Cyr and Molly Hayes report on recent anti-vaccine protests in Ontario and outside a hospital in Vancouver, which caused traffic jams that held up ambulances and others attempting to get to the hospital for treatment. They note that police and politicians across Canada are facing similar issues, but report that experts suggest banning protests is not the answer.

Getting Started

Introduction to the article (perhaps by having everyone read it):

NOTE: This lesson is predicated upon the latest information available from Health Canada, which is firm in its directive that all Canadians should get vaccinated by vaccines that have been proven effective and safe. Teachers who disagree with this position are urged to undertake the lesson with their students to learn the facts that are based on solid science.

Background: All available evidence proves that vaccines protect against the COVID virus, yet millions of Canadians have yet to take the shot. As a result, the current wave of the Delta variant is targeting more than 90 unvaccinated victims to fewer than ten vaccinated, and of the latter, very few become seriously ill. In short, the vaccines are remarkably effective and could end this pandemic if most Canadians agreed to be vaccinated. As the school year begins, parents and students are apprehensive about the continuing spread of the virus via the unvaccinated.

No doubt you will have some students, parents, or even fellow teachers who have succumbed to misinformation about COVID and the countering vaccines via social media and beyond. This lesson explores Health Canada’s website to show the official position of Canada’s best scientists and doctors on this subject.

Subject Area(s) covered

Social studies, health, citizenship, Charter of Rights and Freedoms

New Terms to explain

mRNA, viral transmission, herd immunity

Materials Needed

Access to the article and the Internet.

Study and Discussion Activity

Key things students can learn from this lesson

  • Basic facts about the role of Health Canada in Canadians everyday lives;
  • Simplified information on the COVID virus and the vaccines to counter it;
  • Answers to dozens of questions about the vaccine and its safety and effectiveness.

Action (here’s how we’ll do it)

Introduce the lesson with a short Q&A discussion.

Ask for a show of hands to see how many students have read the information on COVD as found on the Health Canada website. For those who have not, ask why not. For those who have, ask what they learned.

Students may have heard much about protecting their rights and freedoms. Ask, what are some of the responsibilities of citizenship? Note that, among these is the responsibility to obey the law, as well as a responsibility to help others in the community. (See link provided below in the Suggested Links.)

Ask: We say we have a democratic government that protects our rights and freedoms. What does the word “government” mean, in the context of a democracy? (It means we choose a government to govern us; to exercise necessary control over us for our own good and protection, among other reasons. In short, once we elect a government, we have a duty to do what it asks of us, and if we disagree, we elect a different government next time.)

Explain the lesson: Students will work in groups to review the site, with a specific focus on COVID and anti-COVID vaccine information. When these are completed, the students should share their work with each other and discuss their findings before submitting their final assignments, which will include all three reports.

Suggested links:

Work Sheet

Consolidation of Learning

  • When students have finished, review their work as a class, asking what they’ve learned or not, and whether they find anything they’ve seen useful. Given what they’ve seen on the websites, ask how they now feel about the protesters they read about in the attached article.
  • Collect and evaluate notes from each group.
Success and Additional Learning

Success Criteria

Students can explain or provide:

  • Basic facts about the role of Health Canada in Canadians everyday lives;
  • Simplified information on the COVID virus and the vaccines to counter it;
  • Answers to dozens of questions about the vaccine and its safety and effectiveness.

Confirming Activities

  • Students report on the usefulness of these websites.

Helpful Internet Searches

Activities to do together

  • If members of your family have questions about COVID, share the websites with them’
  • Encourage family and friends who resist vaccination to get vaccinated as part of the responsibilities of citizenship.